Grant: Operating Grant

Deficits in the ability to process auditory rhythms or to perform rhythmic movements have been implicated in a number of disorders and diseases including dyslexia, specific language impairment, Down syndrome, Autism, and Parkinson's disease. Here we investigate how the brain processes auditory rhythms and interactions between hearing rhythms and moving rhythmically. In this context, it is interesting that music is universal across human societies. Its presence at all important social gatherings, including weddings, parties, funerals, and religious ceremonies, attests to music's ability to promote social bonding and common emotional feelings among people. Yet it remains mysterious as to why music has this powerful effect on people. One possibility relates to the fact that people produce music in rhythmic synchronization with each other, in contrast to speech interactions, which typically involve turn taking. In order for synchronization to occur, people must be able to entrain to beats at different tempos. They also need to be able to coordinate between hearing and movement in order to sing and play instruments in time with other people. Here we investigate how auditory and motor areas of the brain communicate. Specifically, we will measure the activity of oscillatory neural networks spanning auditory and motor areas in the brain using electrophysiology (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG). We will then temporarily disrupt neural function in motor areas of the brain using magnetic stimulation and observe how this affects auditory perception. We then plan to examine how these networks develop in children and the extent to which they are plastic and can change with specific experience. Knowledge of how rhythmic activity functions across the auditory and motor systems is critical for understanding auditory and motor impairments and for designing remediation programs that can take advantage of the inherent plasticity in the system at different ages.